The page that arrived before the letter

Love & connection · Original fiction

The envelope held a page numbered two. At the top, Niko’s sister had written: I still do not know how to start this.

Below it was a description of a market, a cat sleeping beneath a table, and a loaf of bread too large for one person. There was no explanation for the long silence between them.

Niko had drafted several replies before the letter arrived. All of them began with why had she not written. He put them aside and wrote about the shop near his new flat.

He numbered his page three. At the bottom, he asked whether she had shared the bread.

Her next envelope contained page four and a photograph of the cat. Page one never arrived. Months later, when they met, neither sibling mentioned the numbering until they were already halfway through lunch.